Is This a Spur?

[HenOrRoo1]

Our Buff Orpington, Amber, let herself out of the coop earlier today and I picked her up, decided to check her for bumblefoot while I had her in arms, and found this on her foot:








Is it a spur? I thought only roosters got spurs. If it is, what do I do about it? Should I try to cut it off or file it? Will she be fine if I leave it alone? She doesn't seem bothered by it. The half inch or so closest to her foot looks like it has blood flow, so I don't want to cut into it and hurt her/have her bleeding. Any advice, especially if you've dealt with this before, is appreciated!

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Sounds like a plan

Let us know how it goes.

I have a rooster, who will eventually need some trimming/blunting so I'm always interested in learning new things.

A hacksaw or fine hacksaw blade is a much better and more humane tool to use when trimming spurs.

Don't trim spurs closer than 3/4 of an inch from the birds shank or ankle and before you begin sawing rub your saw blade vigorously with either a bar of soap or chunk of beeswax to seal any capillaries and blood vessels that you might cut as you saw.

Keep the soap or beeswax handy and hub a bit on the severed end of the spur to help seal it. Bear down really good.

Do remember to sever the spur parallel to the shank so that you don't create a sharp leading edge on the spur, and if you do, a quick once over with a small flat-mill-******* file will dress the edges or round them off.

This way your rooster doesn't have a bloody & sore nail bed sticking out on the back of each leg that might take months to heal or be an open invitation for an infection..

 

[HenOrRoo1]

I used the pliers method a few minutes ago and Amber seemed fine with it. She was a bit uncomfortable being held slightly propped up on her back in my arm, but she was patient and calm and only really fussed once. I readjusted how I was holding her and that did the trick. The spur came off easily and barely bled. Maybe one drop of blood worth. Once the outer spur was off, I blotted the inner spur with a soft cotton wipe and spread triple antibiotic cream on it. Then I let her back in with the other girls. She's doing fine and now won't have a spur grow into her leg! Here are the pictures of her inner spur and the hollow outer spur.


The inner spur is soft and pink. In this picture, I've already spread the antibiotic cream on it and then she protested being held and got into the dirt.


Here's a different angle of the soft, inner spur.


Here's the hollow, hornlike outer spur.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Our Buff Orpington, Amber, let herself out of the coop earlier today and I picked her up, decided to check her for bumblefoot while I had her in arms, and found this on her foot:








Is it a spur? I thought only roosters got spurs. If it is, what do I do about it? Should I try to cut it off or file it? Will she be fine if I leave it alone? She doesn't seem bothered by it. The half inch or so closest to her foot looks like it has blood flow, so I don't want to cut into it and hurt her/have her bleeding. Any advice, especially if you've dealt with this before, is appreciated!

Yep, that's a spur

You may want to trim it a bit since it's curving toward her leg.
There are several threads here on BYC and on the web (youtube too) with various methods to trim/blunt spurs.

 

[HenOrRoo1]

Thank you! Time to research trimming and blunting spurs!

 

[junebuggena]

Hens can grow spurs too. And some roosters never grow spurs. Trimming them is fairly simple. Just grasp the spur with pliers and give a quick twist and yank. Or use dog nail clippers and cut it off. Just don't cut too close to the leg, or it will bleed.

 

[FlyWheel]

I've never seen a spurred hen before, does she crow too?

 

[TWK777]

Not that uncommon, I have a few like that. It only needs to be trimmed if it curves back and gets too close too the leg. Otherwise leave it alone.

 

[HenOrRoo1]

I'm going to use the pliers method to remove the outer spur. I watched a couple videos on You Tube demonstrating the technique and I'm confident I can do it. The spur is curving back toward her leg, so I'm going to remove it. Otherwise I would leave it alone.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm going to use the pliers method to remove the outer spur. I watched a couple videos on You Tube demonstrating the technique and I'm confident I can do it. The spur is curving back toward her leg, so I'm going to remove it. Otherwise I would leave it alone.

Sounds like a plan

Let us know how it goes.

I have a rooster, who will eventually need some trimming/blunting so I'm always interested in learning new things.